Andy Murray hit out at the scheduling of his third-round match at the Citi Open in Washington after finishing off a three-set victory over Marius Copil at 3:01am.

Murray is playing only his third tournament since hip surgery in January and had to recover for a quarter-final against Alex De Minaur last night.

The Scot even suggested he may pull out rather than risk putting his body through such an ordeal so soon in his comeback after taking three hours and two minutes to defeat Romanian Copil 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).

Murray said: “I don’t think it’s reasonable and I’m disappointed in that. I know that the weather’s tricky for the scheduling. But it’s a very difficult position to be in when you’re coming back from such a long lay-off.

“Finishing matches at 3am is not good. It’s not good for the players, not good, I don’t think, for anyone involved in the event. Not good for fans, not good for TV, nobody.”

It was the latest finish in the 50-year history of the tournament, which this year has been blighted by rain.

After shaking hands with Copil and acknowledging the sparse crowd, Murray sat down in his chair and sobbed into his towel. “Just the emotions coming at the end of an extremely long day and a long match,” he said.

Cameron Norrie also had a good night as his 6-4, 6-4 win over Adrian Mannarino of France took him into the last four of the Abierto Mexicano in Los Cabos. He was due to face Italy’s Fabio Fognini for a place in the final.

It is Norrie’s second successive ATP Tour semi-final and he is guaranteed to hit a new career-high ranking inside the top 70.

Heather Watson took Venus Williams to three sets before succumbing 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 at the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose. Williams told the WTA Tour website after the match: “It was a tough match and she played incredibly. There were times where I had no answers.

“I just wanted to control the points and enjoy the battle, just get out there and try to do what I know that I can. It worked out, thankfully.”